Light bulb just went off.
I was trying to figure out where you were putting the cue ball to shoot it into the object ball. I now see what you are talking about.
Yeah, there is no cue ball. You are hitting the object balls with your cue--straight into the pocket.
Unfortunately, pocketing a ball gives you no information about how fundamentally sound your stroke was. You could be dropping your elbow, or cocking your wrist inward/outward, or moving your head, or rising up mid shot. None of those fundamentally unsound things has ever prevented various pros from pocketing balls all day long. Pocketing a ball also gives you no feedback on whether you hit the cue ball where you were aiming. Some instructors say that in order to play at a high level you need to hit the cue ball within a 1mm circle around where you were aiming. In my practice sessions, I find that I often miss that 1mm circle yet I still pocket the ball. While practicing, I do not consider the shot to be successful if I miss my target on the cue ball--despite the ball going in the pocket.
You're right--you don't know. The one thing that Tor says that you need a coach for is to watch what you are doing while you pocket those 3,000 balls so that you can get feedback on what you are doing wrong and what you are doing right. Of course, you could also video tape yourself while doing the 3,000 ball drill, then review the tape every 20 shots or so. On the other hand, if you shoot 3,000 balls without feedback you may be ingraining a fundamental flaw into your stroke.
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